April twenty-third is a good day for writers

Today is Shakespeare's Birthday (observed), so have a sonnet:

Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
        All this the world well knows, yet none knows well
        To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

William Shakespeare
Sonnet 129

---

Today is also Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch day, so here are pointers to all of my fiction you can find online for free:

( it's kind of a long list )

---

I would also like to offer something NOT previously available on the internet, so here is my favorite of all the flash fiction I've written, "Fiddleback Ferns," which was published in Flytrap 9.

( Fiddleback Ferns )

Penguicon schedule

Penguicon is next weekend (April 30-May 2). I will be there, and doing the following panels and such like:

Saturday, 1 p.m., Writing the Other, Anne KG Murphy, Sarah Monette, Jim C. Hines, Steve Piziks
Saturday, 2 p.m., Non-Obvious Reflections of Contemporary Culture in Science Fiction, Sarah Monette, Doselle Young, Stewart Sternberg
Saturday, 6 p.m., Mass Autographing Session
Sunday, 10 a.m., The End Is Only the Beginning... of the Work, Sarah Monette, David M. Crampton
Sunday, 11 a.m., Author Reading, Sarah Monette, Jim C. Hines, Patrick Rothfuss
Sunday, 12 p.m., What Makes a Golden Age?, Merrie Haskell, Sarah Monette
Sunday, 1 p.m., In Defense of Mary Sue, Sarah Monette, Jim C. Hines

Addenda: (1) Unless I'm late for a panel (or otherwise obviously busy), I'm always happy to sign books.
(2) I'm very near-sighted and very shy, but that doesn't mean I won't be delighted to talk to you!

this is still amazing

I love living in the future. Someone recorded the four-horse chariot at the Midwest Horse Fair and put it up on YouTube:

ETA: Also, I observe this video was shot on Saturday, because you can see me in the background: blonde woman in pale blue/turquoise shirt carrying a dark brown jacket, standing on the ground to the (viewer's) left of the gates.